Well, That Can’t Be a Good Sign…

Come January, the governor has to propose a balanced budget to the General Assembly. Everyone has been waiting to hear how he’s going to deal with the billion and half dollar projected deficit. We know he’s not going to propose any substantial cuts in spending. On the other hand, Maryland is a pretty high-tax state, and some politicians do have some degree of sensitivity about increasing those taxes further.

A couple of days ago, O’Malley gave legislators a preview peek at what he’s thinking about. The details haven’t been made public, but the package appears to include:

– an increase in the income tax rate
– an increase in the sales tax rate

– an increase in the scope of the sales tax

– an increase in the corporate tax rate

– an increase in the tobacco tax.

And here was the reaction of Ulysses Currie, the chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee: